A Great Gift for this Grandpa Christmas came late to our house. Sure, a couple of weeks ago we did the whole tree and lights and roast beast and piles of presents and visits from the in-laws and exclamations of “We’re never going to do this again!” and Christmas Eve candlelight service and stocking stuffers […]
Enough Already I don’t know about you, but now that there are less than a handful of days left in 2011, I’m more than ready to unceremoniously boot this tired and tattered old year to the curb and welcome in the new one with open arms and high hopes. What on Sunday morning was a […]
A Visit from Santa (Anas) (With my annual apologies to Clement Clarke Moore and a big, honkin’ “Thank you!” to SoCal Edison employees.) ‘Twas the week before Christmas and all through the Valley, The shoppers were combing the stores, streets and alleys. Looking for last minute bargains and buys, Before they collapse with a whimper […]
Getting the LED Out At Christmas It’s beginning to look a lot like … uh, Vegas? Am I the only one who cringes at the glaring, glowing sight of all the new LED-type Christmas lights on houses throughout the neighborhood? They may be more energy efficient (or to put it in the mantra of the […]
That’s it. I’ve officially changed the lyrics of the classic Christmas song, “Let It Snow” to “Let It Blow”! I’m mean, chill out, Mutha Nature. That Santa Ana event our county weathered last week was nothing short of epic. In my many years here in Southern California, we’ve made the national news several times due […]
Discounts for Dessert So are you ready for the big day? Can you believe it’s only one week away? Are you feeling the excitement? Made all your preparations? Ready to consume as much as you possibly can? If you think I’m writing about the Thanksgiving feast, you are so-o-o-o-o old school. No, I’m referring to […]
Home Is Where the Office Is Last week I “celebrated” 15 years of self-employment. That word is in quotes because, frankly, the economic freefall of the past few years has hit my industry even harder than most. In the ad biz, it’s common knowledge that when the economy goes south, advertising budgets are the first […]
Getting Soaked at SeaWorld On a recent Saturday, my wife and I drove to visit our son and his girlfriend down at the small college they attend just north of San Diego. After a relaxed al fresco breakfast with a side of great conversation, the four of us headed out to spend the unseasonably warm, […]
A Little Rain, A Lot of Trouble With the unexpectedly heavy rains of last week, we’ve had our first official taste of, well, something other than summer. Granted, our true winter season, for what it’s worth, is likely to still be at least two or three months off and may not bring with it another […]
High Flying Fun One of the cool things about living here in the Crescenta Valley – at least for an adrenaline-addict like me – is our close proximity to many private airports. Growing up here, my siblings and I were some of the very lucky few of our friends and schoolmates who had the regular […]